When is the jack dead, and what if it is knocked into the ditch?

Jack in the ditch (Law 18): a jack knocked by a bowl in play into the front ditch, within the side boundaries of the rink, is still live. Its position is marked with a white indicator (no more than 50 mm wide and 100 mm high) placed against or on top of the bank in line with the jack.

Once in the ditch, its position only validly changes if it is moved by a toucher, or by a non-toucher that is partly on the rink and partly overhanging the ditch and stays partly on the rink. Its new position is then re-marked.

Dead jack (Law 19): a jack moved by a bowl in play is dead if it:

• passes completely outside the boundaries of the rink
• comes to rest in a hollow in the face of the bank
• comes to rest less than 20 metres (in a straight line) from the centre of the mat line

A jack is not dead if it comes to rest on top of a toucher in the ditch, or on top of bowls within the rink.

The skips (or the two players in singles) decide whether the jack is dead as soon as they realise a decision is needed. If they cannot agree, they ask the umpire.